Jannie du Toit

Jannie du Toit is a singer-songwriter, born in Heidelberg, South Africa and matriculated from Menlopark High School in Pretoria. After his military training at the Air Force Gymnasium in Valhalla, he obtained a B Iuris LLB from the RAU. During his student years he became involved with rock bands as well as an Afrikaans folk group, TRILOGIE, which was awarded an honorary mention prize at the 1976 American Song Festival. The group released two seven single recordings, and appeared on numerous TV programs in those years. After his studies he completed his articles and was admitted as an attorney.

Directly after qualifying he left the legal field and worked as cultural officer with Pretoria University for seven years. He wrote and produced a number of musicals for a student group. He worked with the likes of Afrikaans theatre diva Anna Neethling-Pohl and renowned composer Chris Lamprecht. Thereafter a year was spent in the full time employ of PACT (Performing Arts Council, Transvaal) as organiser of light music, where he introduced jazz and cabaret programmes, whilst also being practically involved with modern Afrikaans folk music or the “luisterlied”. Since 1988 he has become better known as performer in the cabaret vein, especially so through his appearances with highly acclaimed pianist/ composer/accompanist Christa Steyn in Dutch and Afrikaans cabarets and alliances with Ilse van Hemert, Stephan Bouwer and Laurika Rauch.

International performances include Namibia, Zimbabwe, the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, Germany, Russia and Taiwan. In 2009 a medal of honour was awarded to him by the “Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns” for his life contribution towards Afrikaans music.

He turned freelance in 1990, and his endeavours in distributing his own CD’s led to the conception of JNS Musiek, a company aimed at furthering the interests of local music. Jannie owns a bed and breakfast in Melville, Johannesburg, AGTERPLAAS, which he started and has been running successfully for the past eighteen years.

Jannie du Toit has his musical roots firmly in the international folk, rock and pop of the sixties but also in Afrikaans folk and sacred music. He started writing his own material in the early seventies and sang with a folk group, Trilogie, who won a prize in the American Song Festival of 1976. Thereafter he wrote musicals in his native tongue, Afrikaans and came under the influence of European "Kleinkunst" or European literary cabaret - specifically the Dutch cabaret and Jacques Brel's oeuvre - from the early eighties. He spent 25 years on stages and studios in South Africa and abroad with acclaimed pianist and composer, the late Christa Steyn.

In 2011 Jannie celebrated 40 years of being involved in Afrikaans music. His last programme with Christa was Brel in Brooklyn in 2010 featuring Laurika Rauch and accordionist Sergio Zampolli. This was followed by a number of stage shows of which the latest are Bonjour monsieur Brel and Kiekies - mostly in conjunction with cellist Susan Mouton and pianist Coenraad Rall....